


Bonding

by Selina_2000



Category: Batgirl (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bonding, Gen, Missions Gone Wrong, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23095768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selina_2000/pseuds/Selina_2000
Summary: When a mission goes wrong, Red Hood, Robin and Spoiler have to work together to solve the problem.
Kudos: 45
Collections: Tales from the Cave





	Bonding

She groaned as she sat on the hard metal floor. The fluorescent light in her mask cast a strange aura around her face. Parts of her costume also shone in neon purple and the dim light was enough to let the others see her silhouette, especially since she was the only thing glowing in the darkness. “Great, now we are stuck here”, she mumbled for no one in specific. “Batman is going to be  _ so  _ pleased with us.”

The older boy couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s all your fault, blondie”, he grunted, pointlessly kicking the door that separated them from their freedom.

“My fault?”, Stephanie exclaimed raising up in a swift move. She rolled her eyes, despite knowing that Red Hood had no way of seeing it, and laughed. “He’s the one who locked us in here”, she yelled, pointing her gloved finger to the newest Robin, who was pacing around the old freezer trying to get a signal.

Damian stopped in the middle of a step, then turned back to stare at his partners with a death glare. “We would not have needed to hide if you hadn’t been so loud”, he said bitterly at the young girl.

“But I wouldn’t have yelped if he”, Steph gestured towards Jason, who tried to play it cool, casually leaning against a wall, “hadn’t poked me with a freaking  _ gun _ !”

“I’m sorry you can’t take a joke”, he grunted, taking the pistol from it’s holster and flipping it in the air. “Just playing”, he said, flashing a devilish smile.

“You shouldn’t be playing with guns”, she replied, taking large steps in his direction and attempting to take the pistol from his hand.

“Relax, they are unloaded, see?”, he stated and fire against the ceiling. There was the noise of the trigger being flicked, but nothing came out of the barrel. 

On the other side of small room, Damian cleared his throat, causing the others to drop their discussion to look at him. “In case you have forgotten, we are here hiding. If you keep yelling, you’ll blow our cover.”

“Fine”, Steph muttered, grumply sliding back to the floor. She pulled back the purple hood of her cape, letting her blond hair flow freely and rested her head against one of the many boxes laying in the floor.

Jason followed her example and also sat down, removing his red helmet and revealing his jet black hair with a white streak. “If I were you,” he said to Damian, “I would sit down. No use trying to find a signal. we are five floors below street level.”

“Sitting there isn’t going to help either”, the boy hissed.

“Suit yourself,” Jason replied with a shrug. What the brat did was the least of his worries.

“You know, we are lucky the freezer isn’t a funcional one…”, Stephanie commented, lost in her thoughts. “What do you think they kept in here? Dead bodies? Horse meat? Cocaine?”

In that moment Jason wished he had brought a flashlight with him, just so Steph could see the expression in his face. “Why would you keep cocaine in a freezer?”

“I don’t know. To keep it icy?”, she sighed. “Do I look like I do cocaine?”

“No, honestly, you look like a mushroom girl. Especially since you are fucking glowing.”

“Firstly, don’t say the f-word, there’s a kid in here--”

“I’m thirteen. I’m  _ not _ a kid”, Damian shouted.

“Second, it’s called  _ emergency lights _ . My suit has strategically placed glow sticks that I can activate when needed”, Steph explained. 

“Call it what you want, they are ridiculous”, he pointed out.

She huffed. “At least I can see.”

“Yeah, and be seen by every criminal from Gotham to Metropolis.”

In silence she wondered if the idea was as stupid as he made it sound. She had been very proud of her invention, and the memory of how embarrassing the one time she accidently activated the neon lights in the middle of a stealth mission was still fresh in her mind.  _ There’s no need for Jason to know about that _ , she thought. From the depths of the pockets on her cape, she took an old fidget spinner that glows neon green. She had bought it back in 2017, when everyone was playing with those and forgotten about it, luckly, she now had something to play while they waited for rescue. 

Damian, finally giving up his useless task, sat cross legged near Stephanie. “I finished my analysis. I’ve concluded that there’s no exit. The best course of action is to sit and wait for Batman to realize we have been gone for too long and come looking for us.”

“Then we are going to be here forever. Bruce won’t even notice that three soldiers of his army have gone missing, he’ll just replace us. Especially since we ain’t exactly his favorites”, Jason grunted, thinking about how Bruce had quickly forgotten about him the time he died and how soon Tim had taken the mantle of Robin.

“Shut up, Todd, you don’t get to talk about my father like that”, Damian snapped. “You are an ungrateful piece of shit.”

“And for what I should be grateful for, uh? All he did was get me killed.”

“Oh shut up, Jason. No one wants to hear you talk about Joker and that crowbar again”, Stephanie complained. Everyone had heard that story at least a hundred times. “Besides, you aren’t the only one left for dead”, she added, thinking about how she almost had met her own end in the hands of Black Mask.

Jason seemed to recall that too, as he murmured a half-hearted apology to her. Silence took hold of the freezer for what seemed a long time.

“It’s not his fault,” Damian whispered, making the others snap out of their thoughts. 

“What did you say?”, Stephanie inquired.

“I said it’s not his fault the two of you got killed. We knew what we were signing up for. The dangers that came with the job. And we still chose to do it, so we can’t blame Batman for what happens to us, it was our choices. And actions have consequences.”

Jason chuckled once more. “Seriously? I was 12. I wasn’t old enough to make a life changing choice. He knew that, he took advantage of that to mold us into his image.”

“He has a point, though. No one made you go to Egypt and get blow up --”

“Ethiopia…”, Jason corrected.

“Whatever. And no one made me go after Black Mask alone.”

“And start a city wide gang war”, Damian added.

“Gezz, thank you, Damian, good to know I can count on you to keep reminding me of my worst mistakes.”

“Can we stop with the first name basis? We are in patrol.”

“Right, sorry, Robin”, she corrected. “You know what? No wonder no one likes you. You come in out of nowhere, tries to kill Ti-- the former Robin many times, disrespects Nightwing and think of yourself being so superior. And then when someone tries to defend you, you act like a asshole!”

“Bullshit”, Damian yells, standing up revolted. “I never disrespected Grayson.”

“Stop with the first name basis? We are in patrol”, Jason mocked, imitating Damian’s accent.

“And it’s not like they like you either”, the younger boy continued, his voice cracking. He fought to keep the tears from falling and tried to regain his composure. “You are a screw up”, he pointed to Stephanie, who was sitting playing with her spinner, “and you are a killer”, he angrily shouted at Jason, who was juggling with his guns. Neither of them seemed affected by Damian’s words. It was almost as if they had been hearing the same thing every single day and the words had lost their impact.

“Look who’s calling me a killer…”

“Yeah, and I may make mistakes, but at least I got friends”, the blonde said, thinking of Cass, Barbara and Tim. “Not that you would know what  _ that _ means”, she added in a whisper.

“Shut up! Shut up!”, Damian screamed, slamming his fists against the freezer’s walls. Now he couldn’t hide the fact he was crying. 

Slowly, Stephanie rose from the ground and walked towards him. Before he could react, she had him trapped in a tight hug. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that”, she said softly. She glanced back to Jason and mouthed for him to join them.

“Yeah, Robin, I’m  _ really  _ sorry”, Jason apologized joining the group hug.

They stayed that way, arms tangled together until Damian had stopped sobbing. He didn’t say anything, but the way his tiny arms clung tightly to Stephanie’s waist was enough to let her know he regretted the things he had said.

A loud pounding at the door startled them, making them pull away. 

“That’s it, they found us”, Steph whispered, rushing to get her mask in place. 

Jason nodded, picking his helmet from the floor and putting it back on. He stood near the door, guns pointed at the entrance. “Don’t worry, those two are loaded”, he said, smiling underneath his hood.

Damian prepared his fighting stick and Steph got in position. Another  _ bang _ echoed in the chamber. And finally, the door was pulled outwards.

The three of them let out a collective sigh of relief at the sight.

“Kate”, Steph exclaimed, running to greet her.“I’m so glad you found us.”

“Yeah”, Batwoman replied, gently pushing Steph aside. “Now, do any of you care to explain how the hell did you get locked in a freezer?”

“It was totally not my fault”, three voices shouted simultaneously. 


End file.
